Books in Brief
Kurt Weills Musiktheater: Vom Songspiel zur American Opera
Author: Stephen Hinton
Via Suhrkamp
Translated from German
“Twentieth-century musical theater was significantly shaped by Kurt Weill (1900-1950), perhaps best known for his congenial collaboration with Bertolt Brecht, which produced one of the most enduring and frequently performed theater works worldwide: The Threepenny Opera.
In 1933, the Jewish composer had to flee, initially to France. In 1935, he emigrated to the USA, where his works would enjoy enormous success on Broadway.
In this first comprehensive monograph, Stephen Hinton examines Weill's development, his experiments with a wide range of genres and stylistic elements – from one-act plays to Broadway musicals. Exploring both continuity and change in Weill's work, the author neither presents the composer as a seamless entity nor divides him into ‘two Weills.’ Berlin inflects the Broadway music, and in Berlin, Paris, London, and elsewhere in Europe, a transformed American Kurt Weill can be heard.”
View the previously published English edition.
Hinton is the Avalon Foundation Professor of Humanities and professor in the Department of Music.
